How did you die ? By edmund vance cooke appreciation of the poem?
Answers
I just finished the book A Secret Gift by Ted Gup. In it’s heart wrenching and hope filled stories of The Depression, we get snippets of timely poetry and expressions of the true American spirit. The stories reveal harsh truths that few Americans know and how hard the Depression really was. It filled me with hope and deep appreciation for all the gifts in my life; the people, the opportunites, the joy of waking up each new day, having shoes, three meals a day, beautiful clothes and a roof over my head. We are so lucky, even in these difficult times.
The Nature of Your Mind
What strikes me about the poem I am sharing with you from Ted Gup’s book – is that, to me, this poem is timeless and speaks of ancient truths from India and beyond. Life is not about what difficulties you have experienced, but how do you face those difficulties. The nature of your mind literally determines the way that you experience a hardship, a triumph or joy.
Haven’t you ever come across someone complaining about something that you thought, “Gee, I wish I had such problems; like where to invest all that money?” It is the nature of the mind which makes something a difficulty – it is the nature of the mind that determines how you percieve that difficulty and better yet, what are you going to do about it?
How Did you Die?
Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?
Edmund Vance Cooke (first stanza from the poem by Cleveland, Ohio poet)
Entire poem here: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/546.html
How Do You Live?
The poem says it all. It is really asking “How do you Live?” ; what do you do with the adversities in your life?
Vedic Astrology and the Nature of Your Mind